Magic Eagerly Awaiting Start Of Regular Season

NBA

Orlando Will Wrap Up Its Preseason Tonight Against Boston But Is Ready For The Real Stuff.

October 27, 2000|By Tim Povtak of The Sentinel Staff

The Orlando Magic will treat the Boston Celtics -- tonight's opponent -- as if they were invisible.

The Magic admittedly looked right through the Celtics on Thursday in practice, already focusing on the back-to-back games that open the regular season, which will start Tuesday.

"We didn't even mention Boston today. We talked about Washington and Miami," Magic Coach Doc Rivers said after practice. "I hope Boston runs some of the sets of those other two teams, so we can get a look. We have to get ready for Boston, but more importantly, it's Washington first."

The Magic, who will open the season at home against the Wizards, have won all seven of their exhibition games -- the only NBA team to do that. And they have little interest in playing an eighth, which may show quickly in tonight's contest.

"To be honest, I wish they would cancel it," Rivers said. "But we do need a lot of work at our end."

The Magic have breezed through the exhibition schedule, playing two of the NBA's worst teams (Atlanta and Detroit) twice each.

"We still need to work on things, but I'd rather play only about four exhibition games. This is too much, to be honest," Magic guard Darrell Armstrong said.

"Now that I've proven myself in this league, I don't much care about exhibitions. But since it's on the schedule, let's go up and play. We have everything in order. We just need to sharpen up everything."

The Magic's biggest concern tonight will be staying healthy and hoping Grant Hill continues to make progress with his surgically repaired left ankle. Hill, who joined the Magic as a free agent this summer, has played sparingly and looked nothing like a five-time All-Star.

He has averaged 15.5 minutes and 7.3 points a game, usually sitting down when the soreness returns. He will start the season less than 100 percent but will be the starting small forward.

"I feel a lot better about my progress than I did a week ago," he said. "Being in and out hasn't disrupted the chemistry of this team. Ultimately, it might be the best thing for us, getting other guys in more now. That will help us down the stretch. I'll be fine."

MAGIC NOTE: The team has impressed at least one national sports publication. Sports Illustrated, in this week's NBA preview, picked the Magic to play in the NBA Finals against the Portland Trail Blazers. It's the same publication that ranked the Magic 28th of 29 teams before last season.

"I hope they are right this time," Rivers said. "You could pick any of six teams from the East right now, and no one could make a huge argument against them. That's great.

"The bottom line is that if we go where we want to go this season, everyone will be gunning for you at some point. That's the least of our worries."